Rabbinical school is a life-transforming experience. All rabbinical students undergo profound changes during their rabbinic training. For this reason, it is the policy of the Ziegler School to admit to the ordination program those married students whose entire family is in residence together in Los Angeles. Rabbinic school is a time of spiritual transformation and growth. It is ultimately unfair to deprive the spouse (and children) of the fruit of this wonderful transformation and is unhealthy for the marriage.

Just as rabbis are models of Jewish observance and values, so too, the rabbinic family often is seen as a standard of Jewish family life within the community. The Jewish tradition emphasizes the importance of marriage/consecrated unions between Jews (straight or gay). Therefore, the Ziegler School does not permit unmarried students to live with their “significant others,” whether on campus or off. Dating and/or marriage outside the faith is incompatible with the leadership role of a rabbinical student or rabbi. While we certainly believe that students have a right to make private and personal decisions about a wide variety of issues, living arrangements are inherently public, and therefore require a heightened sensitivity and awareness of the religious messages we communicate.

The Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies is committed to fostering and maintaining an environment of learning, growth, and observance. This environment must be free of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is a discriminatory practice that is a violation of halakhah and Jewish values (among them human dignity). It is unethical, and unprofessional. It usually involves persons of unequal power, authority, or influence but can occur between persons of the same status. Sexual harassment as illegal under Title VII of the 1980 Civil Rights Act and Title IX of the 1972 Educational Amendments. Sexual harassment is a gross violation of Jewish and professional ethics. It should be regarded and treated as such by members of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies. The policy of the Ziegler School is to condemn sexual harassment. Members of the Ziegler School are encouraged to file complaints about sexual harassment with the appropriate administrative office of the American Jewish University, or with appropriate law enforcement officials. Sexual harassment has no place in the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at any organizational level – formal or informal. It will not be tolerated and can result in suspension or expulsion.

There is a mikveh on campus, which is available for all students, male and female, to use for tohorat ha-mishpakhah or for spiritual expressions of renewal.

The Ziegler School welcomes qualified students regardless of gender or sexual orientation. Discriminatory treatment or actions based on factors such as an individual's actual or perceived race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religious practices, age, disability or sexual orientation, or other categories protected by law, are offensive and prohibited at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies.